BLOCK: The voices of the late Fred Rogers, Julia Child and Bob Ross. But have you ever heard them like this?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAPPY LITTLE CLOUDS")

ROSS: (Singing) I believe, I believe every day is a good day when you paint.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KEEP ON COOKING")

CHILD: (Singing) I like to smell something cooking, makes me feel at home.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GARDEN OF YOUR MIND")

ROGERS: (Singing) It's good to be curious about many things.

BLOCK: That's also Fred Rogers, Julia Child and Bob Ross auto-tuned. To try to keep current with the times, PBS asked musician John Boswell to create remixes of some of the network's most iconic figures, and John Boswell joins me now. Welcome to the program, John.

JOHN BOSWELL: Thanks for having me.

BLOCK: Why don't you walk us through your process here, how you created these little songs around - by auto-tuning the voices of Fred Rogers, Julie Child and Bob Ross?

BOSWELL: Well, it all starts with watching the old episodes, and there's plenty to watch. But what I try and do is I try and pick up the funniest parts, the most inspiring parts, the parts that get across the person's message, and I'll isolate those samples and kind of collect them and try and see what kind of message I want to carry across in the final song. And then what I do from there is I go ahead and construct a song around what the message is, and I start with a chorus so something that will be repeated throughout the song and then I...

BLOCK: Like bring on the roasted potatoes for Julia Child.

BOSWELL: Exactly, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BOSWELL: It was just too good to pass up.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KEEP ON COOKING")

BOSWELL: And then I'll build the verses around that and kind of - it takes on a life of its own. It's a lot of experimentation and trial and error, but it kind of coalesces into something consistent and unique and really fun to do.

BLOCK: So when you're watching the video, say, of the painter Bob Ross and he says let's build a happy little cloud.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAPPY LITTLE CLOUDS")

BLOCK: Would you immediately think, oh, that's it? I've got to use that.

BOSWELL: Oh, yeah. I mean, he has certain trademarks that you can't pass up. Happy clouds, happy trees, I think I had a collection of about 10 different happy little things that I wanted to use, and I had to just choose clouds and trees, you know, but he was going off about happy little bushes and happy little cabins and all that good stuff.

(LAUGHTER)

BOSWELL: So it was just a lot of fun.

BLOCK: What about for Mr. Rogers, a favorite moment for him?

BOSWELL: You know, there was a lot of really goofy stuff he did, and there's a lot of funny stuff. But I think his best moments was when he would just sit down at the camera and just kind of talk to you straight up and give you these pieces of - his little personal philosophy that would really have an impact.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GARDEN OF YOUR MIND")

BOSWELL: Even now, you know, 20 years later, I still listen to what he has to say, and it's really touching.

BLOCK: It's interesting when you watch these videos and listen to the songs, I mean, it - they're quite lovely tributes, really, to these icons who have passed on, who are no longer with us.

BOSWELL: Yeah. I think a lot of people when they, you know, click the link to the YouTube video, they're expecting something kind of goofy and disrespectful or just quick and non-interesting. But what I try and do is I respect the original message that each of these people kind of tried to convey, and I try and do that with respectful music and not too jarring of remixed work. And a lot of people have commented saying, you know, this - I came here expecting that, but, you know, what I've got was something kind of touching.

You know, a lot of people have been - have had emotional responses, and I think that's partially due to nostalgia and partially due to the musical treatment that is kind of going along with the message. You know, it's kind of the whole package that makes them kind of, you know, realize that this is something touching.